Water motor



J. PURNASIRI Dan, W, 3935..

WATER MOTOR 4 Sheets Sheet 1 Filed July 17, 1935 IIIIIIIIF I? Dec. 10,1935. J, PURNASW 2,23,821

WATER MOTOR Filed July 17, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 mec, W, 1935. JPURNASIR] 2,023,821

WATER MOTOR 'Filed July 1'7, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 J. PURNASIRI i'irwEU,

WATER MOTOR Filed July 17, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Dec. 10, 1935UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention has relation to that class of water powers in which afloat is movable up and down by the rise and fall of a body of water ina tank, and this up-and-down movement of the float is translated intocontinuous rotary motion, in one direction of a power-shaft, theapparatus being adapted to be used for a natural tide or an artificialtide or with any other water-head that would be sufficient to raise thefloat to the desired height before releasing it for its downward powerstroke; and an object of this invention is to not only improve thetranslating devices, but also the valve mechanism for admitting thewaterhead to the tank and automatically releasing it therefrom, as morefully hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings annexed;

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the apparatus;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the apparatus. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectionalview on the line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view on the line 66 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. '7 is a detail view showing the interior of the reversing valve.

This apparatus comprises a tank If) forming 30 a float chamber, a floatH in said chamber, inlet and outlet pipes l2 and I3 respectively forsupplying and discharging water from the tank chamber, a valve l4 forcontrolling the flow of water to and from the tank, a valve controlling35 mechanism for controlling movements of the valve I l, a power-wheelI5, and a gear and chain driving mechanism for operating saidpowerwheel.

Tank I!) is preferably cylindrical and can be 40 constructed of metal asshown, or of wood or concrete as desired, and. is suitably mounted upona platform or stand it. Said tank has a centrally fixed guide-rod I!which is connected to the bottom thereof by a bracket 18 and extendsupwardly 45 a considerable distance above the same and is said sleevebeing guided by the rod I1, and the float is provided with a fillingopening 23 for supplying liquid to the interior thereof to counteractits weight with the water in the tank.

Valve I4 is mounted in a valve-box 24 and to 5 its front-side isconnected the inlet and outlet pipes l2, l3. A partition 25 divides thevalvebox into two chambers, an inlet chamber connected to inlet pipe I2,and an outlet chamber connected to the outlet pipe l3. At the rear- 10side of the valve-box is connected a tank supplypipe 25 which entersthrough the bottom of the tank, and a tank discharge-pipe 21 whichenters the tank through a vertical wall above the bottom thereof. 15

Mounted at one side of the tank, preferably between the same and thevalve-box, is the valve operating mechanism which alternately opens andcloses the valve l4 controlling the flow through the inlet and dischargepipes l2 and I3. 20 This valve operating mechanism comprises a lockwheel 28 having a notch 28 in its edge and a belt pulley 29 mountedtogether on a shaft 30 which is mounted in suitable bearing 3| securedto the tank support, said belt pulley having on 25 its front-side asmaller chain pulley 32 for a purpose hereinafter described. An endlesschain or other belt 33 connects pulley 29 with a second belt pulley 34at the other side of the tank, and this second pulley is mounted on ashaft 35 which 30 extends into the valve-box 24 at one end thereof andhas mounted at its outer end a pinion 36 meshing with a relatively shortrack-bar 31, see Fig. 7, formed at one end of valve [4.

Valve I4 is adapted to reciprocate between two 35 slotted partitions 38and the valve itself is also slotted to register with the slots inpartitions 38, said slots in the valve being so arranged that those atone end will register with ,the partition slots while at the same timethe bars between 40 the slots at the other end will cover the remainingslots in the partitions, so that a flow of water can be had to theoutlet pipe while the inlet pipe will be closed and vice versa.

On the shaft 35, to the rear of chain-pulley 34 is fixed a plain pulley39 which carries an upwardly extending arm 40, to the upper end of whichis pivoted a lock-pawl 4| whose free end is adapted to travel back andforthin a shallow guide-box 42, when wheel 39 is rotated, and alsoengage a lock-pin 43 which projects through the bottom of said guide-boxinto the path of said lock-pawl to prevent clockwise rotation of shaft35 when valve 14 is in-its forward position to open the inlet supply.This lock-pin 43 is operi ated to an unlocking position by a chain 44having one end connected to the lower end of pin 43 and passes around anidle pulley 45 and then being connected at its other end to the smallpulley 32 fixed to the face of the chain-pulley 28. Thus, whenchain-pulley 29 is rotated clockwise, the pulley 32 is also rotated andpulls on 44 thereby pulling lock-pin 43 out of the path of thelocking-pawl 4|.

Lock-wheel 28, belt wheels 29 and 32 are rotated clockwisesimultaneously by a chain connection 49 which is connected at one end tothe underside of the pulley 28 at 41, see Fig. 2, and at.

its other end is connected to a lift-rod 48, which is operated by alever 49 having one end fulcrummed on the outer end of a bracket 53, andhaving its inner end pivoted to sleeve 2|. Thus, an upward movement offloat and its sleeve 2| will lift rod 48, and through its chainconnection 46 will rotate ratchet-wheel 28 and also the parts connectedtherewith. A pawl-lock 5| is provided for the ratchet-wheel 28 toprevent the wheel 28 having an anti-clockwise movement when the floatbegins to fall and a tripping means is also provided for releasing thepawl 5| from the ratchet wheel 28 when the float has reached itslowermost position to release the wheel 28 to turn anti-clockwise, saidtripping means consisting of a trip-lug 53 secured to rod 48 in aposition to engage a pivoted lever 54 and thus lift the pawl 5| out ofnotch 28'.

Power-wheel I5 is adapted to rotate in the same direction at all times,whether the float is rising or falling, and a suitable chaintransmission is provided for this purpose. The power-wheel is fixed on ashaft 55 mounted in suitable bearings formed in the supporting framemounted on the top-side of the tank I9. This shaft has also looselymounted thereon two sprocket wheels 56 and 5'! and each of said sprocketwheels has pivotally mounted thereon spring-held pawls 58 and 59 whichengage ratchet wheels 69 and El. These ratchet Wheels 65 and 6| havetheir teeth faced in the same direction and the pawls 58 also face inthe same direction. At a point below the wheels 56, 57 is another pairof wheels 63, G4 fixed to a shaft journalled on the frame 29, these twowheels being rigidly attached together. Connecting the wheels 55 and 53is an uncrossed chain 62, and connecting the other pair of wheels 5'!and 64 is a crossed chain 62'. The transmission chain 62 is operated upand down by the sleeve 2| through a rigid connection 65 fixed to the topof the sleeve and chain respectively. The upper sections of the chains62 and 62' are preferably of the sprocket type, while the lower sectionscan be the usual plain chain type.

A relatively heavy spring 66 is connected to under leg of the chain 33for the purpose of turning wheel 39, lock pawl 4|, and valve 4 to openedpositions, that is, supplying water to the tank l0 and at the same timepulling down a light spring 61 which is connected to wheel 39 to getready for closed positions. A relatively light spring and chainconnection 61 is connected to wheel 39 and a suitable support forexerting a clockwise movement on this wheel.

In Fig. 2, the float has reached its lowermost position and pawl 5| hasbeen raised out of its notch 28'. The parts are now in position for thebig spring 63 to come into action. This spring when thus released turnsthe wheels 28, 29 anticlockwise, the pull chain 46 having been relaxedby the fall of the rod 48.. This operation of the wheels 28, 29 slacksup on chain 44 and allows pin 43 to spring up to its operating position.This action also pulls on the top leg of the chain 33 and causesrotation anti-clockwise of the pulleys 39, 4| to thereby perform threeoperations, namely, first, tension the light spring 61, actuate thevalve to inlet position and pull back the pawl 34 to the left of thelock pin 43, the latter function of course serving to admit the water toa point under the float and thus start the float on its upward movement.As the float moves ,upwardly, the pawl 5! is released and allowed toride freely on the periphery of pulley 28, and when the float reachesits upper limit, or thereabouts, this pawl 5| again comes back into itsnotch 23 and thus prevents anti-clockwise movement of the pulleys 28, 29until the float again descends to its bottom position.

When the float reaches its uppermost position, the spring 66 will havebeen tensioned and the pin 43 will have been drawn down out of thepathwayof the pawl-34, whereupon the pawl 34 will quickly shift to theright end of the trough 42 and thus shift the valve to drainingposition, thereby bringing about a descending action of the float. Thisright hand throw of the pawl 4| is accomplished through the medium ofthe light spring 61, which has been previously tensioned by thecontractile action of the heavy spring 66. When the float startsdownwardly, the chain 46 is not re-wound on its pulley 28 but fallslaxly away from the periphery of the same and remains in that positionuntil this slack is taken up by the subsequent action of the big spring63. On the downward movement of the float no operation takes place untilthe pawl 5| is again lifted out of its notch 28, whereupon the bigspring 56 comes into action to not only take up the slack in chain 45,but also, as stated, throw the pawl 4| over to the left and shift thevalve to draining position.

It will be understood that all the movable parts of the valve-shiftingmechanism move but a very short distance, it being probably unnecessaryto shift them a greater distance than is indicated by the width of theslots in the valve. This lack of necessity of shifting the parts to anygreat degree enables me to use the endless chain |4 mounted on a pair ofpulleys. When the float is rising and the wheel 29 is moved in aclockwise direction, the pawl-carrying pulleys at the other side willnot be given any appreciable degree of rotation because the pawl 4| isthen lying against the pin 43. This prevention of transmission of rotarymotion to the pawl-carrying pulleys is prevented by providing the usualslight slack in the chain 33, or in the alternative, by providing forslight slippage action on either the pulley 29 or the pulley 34. Whenthe pulley 29 is thus rotated in a clockwise direction and the pawl 4|is against pin 43, it straightens out the slack in the under leg of thechain and transfers it to the upper leg of the chain and thus permitsthe wheel 29 to turn without rotating the wheel 39; this lack in theupper leg of the chain also permits the pawl 4| to shift past the pin 43as soon as the pin releases the pawl without imparting any rotativeaction to the wheel 29, and thereby transferring the slack to the underleg of the chain. It will be kept in mind, as stated, that but a veryslight movement of the parts is required to shift the pawl 4| and thevalve.

It will be understood that the details of my apparatus may beconsiderably varied without departing from the spirit of the inventionas defined in the claims. For instance, any other suitable means may beemployed for translating the.

up and down movement of the tubular rod 2| into a continuous rotarymotion. The translating devices I illustrate operate in an obviousmanner. Upon the up movement of the rod 2l,'

the chain 62 will, with the help of the pulleys 63, 64 (which latterpulleys are rigidly attached together) drive the chain wheel 56 in powerdirection, while at the same time the crossed chain will be driving thepulley in a non-power direction, with its ratchets merely clicking. Whenthe rod 2! descends, the pulley 56 will be driven in a non-drivingclicking direction, while the other pulley 51 will be driven in theopposite direction to continue the application of power to the shaft 55through the medium of the pawl 59.

An important feature of my invention is that I provide for a very quickaction of the valve at the reversal points of the float to therebyeliminate the dwells at these points, thus insuring virtually acontinuous operation in one direction of the driven shaft 55. Iaccomplish this by the use of two springs, one stronger than the other,and two locking devices, one of which is tripped at the upper extremityof rnlovement of the float, and the other of which is tripped at thelower extremity of movement of the float. The upward movement of thefloat tensions the strong spring so that when it is released from thistension by the release of the tripping device at the lower extremity ofmovement of the float it will not only instantaneously shift the valveto inlet position, but will also tension the weaker spring, so that whenthe float again reaches its topmost position and thus trips the lockingdevice associated with this weaker spring, this weaker spring will comeinto action, independently of the big spring, to instantaneously shiftthe valve to draining position and hold it there during the drainingoperation. Upon completion of the draining operation, the other lockingdevice will be released to thus permit the previously tensioned bigspring to be released and thus again open the valve as well asre-tension the small spring and re-set its associated locking device. Asstated, the main purpose of my valve actuating mechanism is to insure asquick action in shifting the valve as possible in mechanical devices tothus insure a continuous, practically unbroken revolution of the drivenshaft in the one direction.

I claim:

1. In a water power apparatus of the class set forth, a reservoir ortank, a float therein, means connected to the float for translating itsup and down movement into continuous rotary motion of a shaft, and anautomatic valve mechanism for controlling the admission and emission ofwater in the tank embodying a vertically movable member actuated up anddown with the float, and means actuated by this member for alternatelyshifting the valve to admitting position and draining position wherebyso long as a head of 5 water is maintained at the inlet the float willalternately rise and fall automatically and thus impart a continuousrotary motion to the aforesaid shaft, said valve mechanism embodying ashiftable valve, a pinion for alternately opening and closing said valveand devices for quickly alternately rotating this pinion embodying apair of belt pulleys, a belt or chain connecting these pulleys, devicesfor alternately locking the pulleys against rotation, and means actuatedalternative- 1y from said vertically movable member for re leasing saidlocking devices to permit a shifting of the valve from one position tothe other.

2. In a water power apparatus of the class set forth, a tank, a floattherein, means connected to the float for translating its up and downmovement into rotary motion of a shaft, inlet and outlet pipes for thetank and valve means for controlling said pipes, and means actuated bythe up and down movements of the float for instan- 2 taneouslyalternately shifting the valve from draining position to inlet position,said means embodying a strong spring and devices actuated by the upwardmovement of the float for tension-- ing this spring, devices for lockingthis spring under tension during the descent of the float and forreleasing its tension when the float reaches its lower position, aweaker spring and devices whereby this spring is tensioned by thestronger spring when it is released, devices associated with this weakerspring for opening the valve to draining position when this weakerspring is released, and. locking devices for this weaker spring and itsassociated parts, and devices actuated when the float reaches its upperposition for releasing these 0 locking devices.

3. In a water power of the type described, a tank having inlet andoutlet means embodying valve devices, a float in the tank, meansconnected to the float for translating its up and down movement intorotary motion of a shaft, a spring for instantaneously actuating thevalve devices to draining position and another spring forinstantaneously actuating the valve devices to filling position, devicesfor tensioning said springs by the movement of said float, a lockingdevice for holding each of said springs tensioned, a tripping device fortripping one of said locking devices when the float reaches the top ofits movement and another tripping device for releasing the other lockingdevice when the float reaches its lower position.

JAJAVAL PURNASIRI.

